Canaan teen still in critical condition after ATV accident

Newport emergency crews direct traffic on Stetson Road in Newport, near the scene of an ATV rollover accident which occurred on nearby Murray Road Sunday, July 3, 2011.

Courtesy of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife | BDN

Courtesy of Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife | BDN

Sgt. Chris Cloutier and Warden Troy Dauphinee use Maine Warden Service survey equipment to reenact an ATV accident in Newport on Sunday afternoon. A 16-year-old male from Canaan was not wearing a helmet during the crash and remained in a drug-induced coma at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor on Sunday night.

NEWPORT, Maine — A 16-year-old Canaan boy who suffered series head injuries in an ATV accident Sunday remained in critical condition Monday night at a Bangor hospital.

The teenager, whose name was being withheld, also remained in a drug-induced coma, Edith Smith, director of information and education for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, confirmed Monday.

“The boy’s condition is unchanged,” she said.

An investigation by the Maine Warden Service so far has determined that speed and driver inexperience were factors in the accident.

Smith said the accident occurred about 2 p.m. Sunday on Murray Road, when the boy lost control of the ATV he was driving while trying to negotiate a curve and then crashed through the woods, with the ATV landing on its side.

A relative who was riding with the teenager on a separate ATV passed him and warned him to slow down shortly before the accident, Smith said.

Smith said the accident remains under investigation.

A Warden Service accident reconstruction team visited the scene on Sunday. In addition, the ATV the teen was riding is being checked for mechanical defects, Smith said.

She said the Maine State Police and the Newport Police Department are assisting in the investigation. Personnel from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Department and the Newport Fire Department assisted at the accident scene.

Smith said wardens reported heavy ATV activity throughout Maine on Sunday because weather conditions were less than optimal for boating.